Grand Canyon Escalade gondola project divides Navajos

Grand Canyon Escalade gondola project divides Navajos

Leonard Sloan, Bodaway-Gap chapter vice president, takes a photo of a cow and her dead calf, March 13, 2017, while traveling through Gap on his way to the confluence area where the Little Colorado River meets the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Sloan sent the photos to the grazing officer so the cow could be identified and the owner notified.
Mark Henle/The Republic

Grand Canyon Escalade gondola project divides Navajos

A portrait of Leonard Sloan, Bodaway-Gap chapter vice president, at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers, March 15, 2017, on the Navajo Reservation.
Mark Henle/The Republic

Grand Canyon Escalade gondola project divides Navajos

Leonard Sloan, Bodaway-Gap chapter vice president, views the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers in the Grand Caynon on March 15, 2017, from the Navajo Reservation.
Mark Henle/The Republic

Grand Canyon Escalade gondola project divides Navajos

Leonard Sloan, Bodaway-Gap chapter vice president, puts his hat on after saying a prayer March 15, 2017, at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers in the Grand Canyon. The confluence is a sacred space for a number of tribes in the area including the Navajo.
Mark Henle/The Republic

Grand Canyon Escalade gondola project divides Navajos

Leonard Sloan, Bodaway-Gap chapter vice president, draws a map of the confluence area March 13, 2017, on the ground outside his home in Cedar Ridge.
Mark Henle/The Republic

This undated photo provided by Confluence Partners, LLC, shows a view upstream on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon at the site for a proposed aerial tram. Navajo Nation lawmakers will consider a plan on Oct. 31, 2017, to build an aerial tram to carry visitors to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The special session in Window Rock, Ariz., will be the first time the full Tribal Council takes up the bill.(Photo: Associated Press)

The Navajo Nation Tribal Council voted 16-2 during a special session in opposition of the legislation. It was the first time the full council had taken up the measure since it was first introduced last year.

The proposal had gotten a cold reception from lawmakers from the nation's largest American Indian reservation even before Tuesday's lengthy debate.

Some lawmakers raised concerns about the development resulting in more public safety demands, while others questioned a requirement that the tribe help fund infrastructure improvements in the remote area.

The development on 420 acres of the reservation that borders Grand Canyon National Park would have required $65 million from the tribe for roads, water and power lines, and communications. The legislation also would have prevented other development within a 15-mile radius and along access roads.

This artist rendering provided by Confluence Partners, LLC, depicts a proposed aerial tramway, at right, that would ferry tourists from the cliff tops of the east rim of the Grand Canyon to the water's edge of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers below.(Photo: Associated Press)

Developers had said the tram and accompanying retail and hotel sites at the East Rim could be running by May 2021 had everything gone as planned. They did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment after the vote.

Critics showed up to urge lawmakers to oppose the project as the debate finally got underway late Tuesday afternoon. Those included families who hold grazing permits and leases to build homes in the area.

They have said the area is sacred and the proposed development would mar the landscape where the Colorado River meets the blue-green waters of the Little Colorado River.

Declaring victory over what they termed a "monster," they praised the council's vote on social media and let out loud cheers outside the council chambers.

"They heard us," activist Renae Yellowhorse said of the council members. "We needed to be a presence there to let them know we're not going to go away. We're going to always be here to defend our Mother, to defend our sacred sites."

Environmentalists and outdoor enthusiasts also decried the measure. Actor Robert Redford released a video last December voicing opposition, and an online petition against the proposal has collected thousands of signatures.

The vote came ahead of a tribal election year and as the tribe prepares for the loss of hundreds of jobs with the expected shutdown of a coal-fired power plant and its supply mine in 2019.

Lamar Whitmer, part of the Scottsdale-based Confluence Partners development group, had said previously that the East Rim project could employ up to 3,500 people on a reservation where half the workforce is unemployed.

The management team includes former Navajo President Albert Hale and others who have helped develop resorts and theme parks.

Under the legislation, the Navajo Nation's share of revenue would have depended on the number of visitors. The tribe would have been guaranteed a minimum 8 percent of gross revenue, developers say.